Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Nepal will become Hindu Rastra (State) in 2025.
Fact
Viral video is edited.
A video claiming that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Nepal will become a Hindu Rastra (State) in 2025 is going viral on TikTok.
The video goes viral in the wake of several rallies across the country seeking the restoration of monarchy which is rooted in Hinduism. Nepal was turned into a secular republic in 2008. The first sitting of the elected Constituent Assembly formally abolished the monarchy and declared the country a secular republic.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @sharwan074 posted a video carrying a clip of India’s Prime Minister Narendra speaking. The 50-seocond video also carries two other photos: one showing Narendra Modi waving his hand outside Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple; the other shot shows PM Modi and Nepal’s deposed King Gyanenra Shah along with a purported screenshot of Narendra Modi’s social media handle. The screenshot of the alleged post by Modi reads, “Nepal will become Hindu Rastra (country) in 2025.”
In the video clip, Modi says in Hindi, “Nepal means the country of world’s highest peak Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). Nepal is the country of sacred pilgrimages, temples and shrines in the world. Nepal is the country that has preserved the ancient civilizations and culture.” He goes on to add in Nepali, “When I visit Nepal I have a completely different spiritual feeling rather than a political visit.”
The video posted on March 6 has garnered 36.5k likes within 11 hours after it was posted, while 1418 users have shared it and 773 people have commented.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker closely observed the video and noticed that the post by Prime Minister Modi on his verified X (formerly twitter) handle was dated February 28, 2025. Taking a clue from it, we thoroughly checked the X page of PM Modi but didn’t find any post related to Nepal or Hindu state.
Further, we took a key-frame from the clip carried in the viral video and ran a Google reverse search on it. The search threw up several results matching the frame from the clip. On checking a video, dated May 16, 2022, posted on the YouTube channel of DNA India News, we found that the footage from 1:35-minute onwards exactly matched the clip carried in the viral video.
The video showed PM Modi a day-long visit to Nepal to mark the occasion of Buddha Purnima. During the visit, Modi laid the foundation for the construction of a unique centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at Buddha’s birthplace, Lumbini.
Further, we took another keyframe from the viral video showing Modi waving his hand outside Pashupatinath Temple, and ran a reverse search on it. The reverse search led us to several articles carrying the image resembling the image carried in the viral video. On checking an article, dated August 22, 2014, published in India today online, we found that the image showed Modi at Pashupatinath temple during his first visit as India’s Prime Minister in 2014.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that the viral video is exaggerated and edited by using unrelated video clips and images.
Conclusion
No, India’s Prime Minister Narendra has not posted on his social media and openly spoken that Nepal will become Hindu Rastra in 2025. The viral video is exaggerated, and thus is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
DNA India News/YouTube, May 16, 2022
India Express, March 5, 2025
India Today , August 22, 2014
Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
